


Scars over the heart

by AusKitty



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Blood Guts and Ganking Monsters, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Violence, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Sam Winchester, Researrch over Boredom, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2018-12-30 19:52:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12116025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AusKitty/pseuds/AusKitty
Summary: Yana has a tragic but defining past that she shares with the Winchester Brothers... Sam and Dean however don't know this. What happens when Yana finally feels confident to tell the boys about her past, and how John possibly wasn't the absolute worst parent in the world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I like reader inserts... I do, but I find the y/n, y/hc, y/ec to be jarring and problematic, therefore I swap out y/n with the name Yana... so here is my first attempt at a reader insert, just with a name.
> 
> As always I would LOVE feedback, and with any kind of luck I will have a tumblr page set up soon.

Yana Dumas stood behind the bar nursing her glass of scotch, the hunters gathered and milled around like flies to honey, nothing like a wake to forget all the shit one man could cause. Downing the last two fingers in a gulp she set the glass aside and lined up more shots and bottles of beer as two lean hunters she hadn’t seen in a while made their way in. her eyes strayed over the long lines of the younger Winchester’s face, he had filled out and shot up since the last time she saw him; she had been a pygmy in gingham skirts and bouncing plaits back then, nothing like her solid, broad shouldered adult self. 

“Single Oak Barrel, matured twenty one years before being gifted to Pete. Five short years in the bottle on his shelf and now we toast him with it boys.” You slide the glasses forward and add another four fingers to your own glass before saluting the brothers with your glass. “May the old man be in heaven before the devil knows he’s dead… not that its likely.” She sipped the scotch and grimaced over the glass as another Waylon Jennings song starts on the jukebox. “Gonna get rid of all that country crap as soon as this wake is done. Get some decent music in the machine.” 

She can feel two sets of eyes lingering on her while she turns to set another hunter up with a beer “It’s an open bar tonight boys so help yourself, Pete left enough in the coffers to cover it. We salt and burn him at sunrise out back in the clearing.” She nods at the brothers and walks away, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Be damned if she was going to show weakness in front of the Winchesters; they may not remember her, but she had kept tabs on them over the years. 

~*~ ~*~

Dean watched as she turned from the bar, glass in hand knocking back the shot of scotch like it was water. His eyes followed her as she slipped into a back room, her boot steps fading from his hearing. Shaking his head he looked at his younger brother with a goofy grin “Was that Yana? Little dimpled cheeks, hair in pigtails Yana?” Dean laughed at the shock on Sam’s face as recognition set in. 

“Pete Dumas’ only beloved daughter, always chasing after you to play house with, Yana? Yep, pretty sure that’s her.” The younger Winchester grabbed the beer and necked the bottle while the heat rose up his cheeks; the Yana he remembered had always wanted to play house with Dean, but never him. It’s not that he was jealous of the attention she paid to Dean, just that he always insisted on having Sam play along as the baby, and that memory was mortifying. 

Dean turned away from the bar, beer in hand as he spotted Garth over by the jukebox. Elbowing Sam in the side he motioned over to the lanky lycanthrope before making his way over. Sam nodded and stayed put, wondering what the young woman was doing in the back room. Probably tapping another keg or getting more bottles for the wake, he reasoned as a half drunk hunter barged his way up to the bar demanding another beer. When Yana didn’t appear right away Sam slipped under the swing door in the bench and grabbed a bottle, flicking the top off with a deft twist of the wrist. “Yana had to step out for a minute, happy to help.” Within seconds four more hunters were ordering drinks and Sam was relegated to the job of bar bitch for the next hour.

“Sam? Sammy? You seen Yana anywhere?” Dean’s voice shot through Sam’s head like a bolt from the blue. Searching the bar for any sign of the young woman Sam furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. “Not since we got here and she slipped out back. I been tending bar the last hour or so and she hasn’t come back out this way.” Sam was concerned for the woman, he knew the emotional toll losing a father had and despite her obvious efforts to seem untouched the woman was grieving. “You take over here and I’ll go back and see?” 

Dean sighed, he would rather be drinking than tending bar, but it was better that than dealing with some angsty emotional chick he barely knew. Sam was better with all the chick-flick moments, better that he go do the talking while Dean stays here safe from the tears and emotions and stuff. “Go on, go see whats keepin’ her.” Sam ducked his head and disappeared behind the beaded curtain that separated the bar from the back room.


	2. Chapter 2

The back room obviously doubled as a break room of sorts with its small table and chair and a small janitor’s closet with the door removed standing next to a bench. A single door led to a smaller hall and Sam cautiously peered down the dingy length noticing two doors to the right side, one with an obvious line of light underneath it. Calling out quietly he walked towards the door, raising his hand to tap gently calling to Yana again. He heard the door unlock but not open so he waited a few moments before entering.

The room smelled of sage and rosemary, a blessed change from the stale beer scent of the bar, the light was coming from a muted lamp on the bedside table. The room was small, just big enough to fit a double bed and a side table, a set of drawers at the foot of the bed was the only other hard furnishings. Sam noticed the salt lines at the window and door were undisturbed, and the outer edge of a devils trap was visible at the edge of a soft lilac area rug between the door and the bed. 

Yana was sitting on the edge of the bed, red rimmed eyes looking at her balled fists in her lap. “I just wish they all knew, ya know? He wasn’t a great father, he was barely a father at all, but they are all out there telling stories of how brave and how good he was. They don’t know him at all.” Her voice wavered and settled into a depressing monotone. “He may have been a good hunter, but he was supposed to be a husband first, a father second and a hunter third. Not a hunter first, second, third and fourth. He was supposed to protect us, protect me, not be the cause of my pain.”

Sam rested his hip against the wall just inside the door, he knew Yana was processing her grief, but this didn’t sound like the normal mourning of a bereaved child… not even the angst of a hunter’s child. Softly, in his most caring voice Sam asked Yana what she meant. “Talk to me Yana. Tell me the truth and we can get to burning his sorry ass and sending him on his way.”

So Yana spoke haltingly at first, and then strongly, becoming passionate and fervent as her tale continued. She told him of the early days with her mother still around, how he would beat her for her weakness. How he would strike her mother down for the simplest of things. She told him of her mother trying to leave, hiding her in the back of the old truck and driving towards town before he caught up with her and pushed the truck off the side of the road into a culvert almost killing Yana in the process. She told him of the times her mother miscarried because the beatings were too much for her body to take and then her mother’s eventual suicide. 

She told him of the nights when strange men would come into her room, stinking of beer or cheap whiskey and touch her, until the night came when she shot one of the perverts in the thigh with the handgun she stole from her father. She insisted that her father didn’t know, he was always passed out drunk when it happened, and so he couldn’t be entirely to blame. It was the shooting that caused her father to wake up and start training her with basic firearms, hand to hand combat and various blades. He didn’t allow her to go hunting, merely got her to mind the bar and do the research for him and whatever hunter happened to be frequenting the bar at the time. 

“How many scars do you have Sam? How many did you get from fighting for your life from some monster? My scars are ten to one. For every one a monster or accident caused I have ten he gave me. I was safer when I was being tracked by Vampires than I was in my own well warded home. ” 

Sam moved closer, sitting on the side of her bed waiting for her indication that she wanted him to speak, not expecting the girl to put her hand on his thigh. Yana turned slightly towards him with a desperate look in her eye. “Sam, I know this is way out of left field, but getting all that shit off my chest has worn me out. I’ve never told anyone any of that before and now all I want to do is sleep, but I’m scared to be alone.” Wrapping his arm comfortably around her shoulders Sam gave the girl a side hug before standing her up and pulling the bedclothes down. Yana kicked off her boots and climbed in fully clothed curling in on herself as Sam pulled the blanket back up over her body. Sitting with his back to the headboard Sam waited for Yana to get comfortable before stroking a giant hand through her hair. 

As she dozed off Yana could have sworn she heard Sam say she would never have to be alone again, all that she had to do was ask.  
~*~ ~*~  
“Sammy, time to wake up princess!” Dean shook his brother’s shoulder and grinned lasciviously at him. It took Sam a few seconds to realize that he was wrapped around Yana, her body curled into him, their fingers twined together at her waist. “Time for the pyre to be lit, everyone is waiting out back. Can you get her up and out there or do you need a hand?” Swatting Dean away Sam gently shook Yana’s hip and quietly spoke into her ear. Dean backed out of the room to give the couple time to properly wake up and get ready for the funeral rites. 

In bare minutes Yana was standing at the funeral pyre, blazing torch in hand pressing it to the gasoline soaked rags that shrouded her father’s body. She stood watching the flames lick along the branches and logs, her eyes glazed over and her face warming. One by one as the fire dwindled hunters came up and pressed their hands into hers, hugged her or showed some form of condolence for her loss. She didn’t reply, simply stood staring until the last flame shrank to an ember, and the embers crumbled to ash and dust. Without a word she turned away from the scene and returned to her room leaving Sam and Dean to follow or leave as they wished.

Sam looked at Dean with a barely concealed look of resignation. “You got a choice here De. You can high tail it to a motel for the rest of the day, come get me tomorrow morning or you can stay here and sleep in Baby, or somewhere in the bar. I can’t leave Yana alone like this. She told me some stuff last night that makes me think she might go doing something stupid. Not kill herself stupid, but go on a hunt solo with no plan B stupid.”  
Dean threw an arm around his baby brother’s shoulders and walked with him back towards the bar “You go make sure she’s ok, I’ll be fine til tomorrow. If there isn’t somewhere comfy to lay low inside I’ll be surprised.” 

~*~ ~*~   
Yana sat on the floor with her back pressed against the bed, her eyes rimmed red with unshed tears and the stinging remains of the smoke from the fire, and she was ready for the day to be over. Her hunters sense told her she wasn’t alone in the bar, someone, or rather two particular someones, were still walking around in the common room of the bar, the quiet clink of beer bottles told her they were cleaning up after the wake. Smiling a sad smile Yana knew that Sam and Dean were good guys, it would never have occurred to them to leave the bar in its untidy state like so many of the other hunters that frequented the establishment.  
Levering herself off the floor and walking into the bar Yana looked around impressed by the speed the brothers had tidied away the empty bottles and stacked the washer racks behind the bar with glasses. Dean was steadily sweeping the floors from the entrance back towards the bar while Sam emptied the trashcans into a bag to be thrown into the dumpster out the back of the bar. Clearing her throat Yana shot the brothers an appreciative grin “Thanks boys, there’s beds out the back if you want to sack out for a few hours. I can whip you up a decent meal before you leave if you like, my way of saying thanks for the help.” 

Sam and Dean exchanged glances and before she could say anything else Sam had walked over to her and turned her around by her shoulders, walking her back towards her bedroom. “Bed young lady, we can finish out here and you need sleep as much, if not more, than we do. We weren’t planning on leaving just yet, so the offer of the bed is appreciated.” As she reached her open bedroom door, Yana shivered and pushed back against Sam’s hands, her back barely touching his stomach and lower chest, a whimper escaping from between her lips. Sam’s arms wrapped around Yana’s waist and pulled her tighter against him, her head resting against his shoulder before she turned suddenly throwing her arms around his neck.

“I don’t want to go to sleep. I can’t. Whenever I close my eyes he’s there.” She murmured into his chest, her eyes already leaking the tears she thought she had finished shedding. Looking up at Sam, her ashen face highlighting the red rimmed eyes and dark circles underneath she begged the younger of the Winchester boys not to make her sleep. Picking her up and wrapping her legs around his waist, Sam carried Yana into her room and sat on the edge of her bed, rubbing his hand over her back and nuzzling her hair while she cried and begged him not to make her sleep.

When the sobs died to whimpers Sam stroked his hand through Yana’s hair and massaged the nape of her neck, gently untangling her arms and drawing her back so he could look into her face. He kissed her forehead and smoothed her bangs back before smiling softly and offering to stay with her while she slept. “But first, you need to get some sleep clothes on, I’ll just go tell Dean what’s going on and I’ll be back to stay with you while you sleep.”

Smiling up at Sam Yana felt safe again for the first time in heaven knows how long. If he was going to stay with her today she could manage to sleep for a few hours, maybe this time the nightmares would stay away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam thinks he has found a job, Yana makes burgers and Dean teases his little brother.

Yana could feel the strong hands holding her down, the hushed murmur of voices over the top of her head, the prickle of sweat as it trickled down her back. She couldn’t see who was holding her, but the arms screamed of comfort not abuse and the change startled her awake. Breathing deeply through her nose she quelled the rebellion of her heart and stomach; she did not want Sam or Dean to see her devolve into a full on anxiety attack. 

“Nightmare?” A gentle voice asked as a hand carded through her hair, drawing the sweat dampened strands away from her face while the other hand rubbed her back soothingly. Breathing deeply, Yana nodded against the solid chest beneath her; somehow in sleep they had come together, Yana’s head resting on Sam’s shoulder, his arm cradling her to him. Yana reached out tentatively and captured Sam’s hand, lowering both to his chest. “Yeh, but not a bad one; if it were a bad one you’d have more bruises and broken bones, maybe a knife wound of two.” Burrowing her face into him Yana wearily groaned and made to get up before Sam’s arm tightened around her. “You don’t need to talk about it, but if you want to grab a few more hours sleep, I’ll still be here.” 

Sighing inwardly Yana stretched against Sam’s side, uncurling her body from where he held her close. “Time for me to get up and start the fryer for the night; no rest for the wicked or the Hunters that chase it, besides, I owe you and your brother a meal.” Yana smiled slightly guiltily at Sam where he lay stretched out in her bed, the rumpled covers wouldn’t have been amiss on one where lovers had laid. Shaking her head furiously to rid the image of Sam’s naked body pressed against her own Yana levered herself out of bed and grabbed an armful of clean clothes from the dresser and headed towards the bathroom. “Coffee will be on in ten, soon as I shower and dress.” The door closing behind her was quiet but final.  
*** 

The fryers were sizzling by the time Dean made his way to the bar in a clean but rumpled plaid shirt over his usual band t-shirt and jeans. Sam had his head buried in a book, making notes on a legal pad beside his open laptop while Yana bustled about in the tiny kitchen beside the bar. Looking out with a smile at the older brother she called “Coffee is hot, burgers are nearly done, sit your ass down and get comfy Winchester; Sammy thinks he may have a case.” 

Sliding a basket of fries between the two men as she walked by to grab the bottles of ketchup and hot sauce, Yana smiled wearily at the brothers. It felt good having the boys in the bar again, sure they had just been kids when they last saw each other, but Yana had always felt at ease around them. When John and the boys were around the others stayed away from her; even in Yana’s limited experience the name Winchester meant safety and security. Unlike her father John Winchester saw her as something other than a way to make ends meet, over the years he hunted solo he entrusted her with several books and journals he had found.

“Dad left this with Yana said one day someone might need it.” Sam said, holding the book aloft. “Some good information here on ways to deal with some Slavic monsters, but that isn’t what caught my eye. It’s this story here, told to Dad by an old Slavic woman. She told him of her entire family being destroyed by something called a Likho . She says the Likho was passed from one family member to the next with the granting of a gift. In the last month there has been a string of unusual deaths, starting with the owner of an antiques shop in Junction City. He recently purchased a hundred year old matryoshka, the former owners claimed the dolls were cursed by an old gypsy woman.”

Sam slid the journal and his laptop towards Dean as the older brother grabbed a handful of fries, filling his mouth with the greasy treat. “Matryoshka,” Sam waited for Dean to respond and received only a blank stare, “Russian nesting dolls plus a Slavic bad luck demon that can get passed on in a gift… Sounds like a feasible hunt to me. And Junction City isn’t too far; we can be there and back before morning if we head out now.” Nibbling on a fry Sam looked expectantly at Dean waiting for his elder brother’s approval.

Yana slid a plate with a bacon cheeseburger in front of Dean and a chickpea and lentil burger in front of Sam before leaning in to swipe a fry from the basket. “Sounds about right to me too, Likho are the embodiment of bad fortune in Slavic mythology. I would hate for some kid to be given the cursed dolls as a gift, it just wouldn’t be fair if we could do something and we chose not to.” Raising her eyebrow at Dean, Yana smiled hesitantly. “I’m not suggesting that I go along, just that I happen to know a fair bit about the things in the journals. Your dad always had faith that I could help and he treated me better than my own dad did. I could be your go-to girl for research on this one.”

Dean picked up his burger and took a bite his eyes rolling heavenward, a soft groan emanating from his throat as he slowly chewed the burger and swallowed. Yana took that as a no and turned away to grab the coffee pot, filling the brothers cups before wandering back to the kitchen. Her regular grill cook would kill her if she left a mess in his kitchen so she busied herself with tidying the area and making sure the condiments were re-filled for the night before taking a tub of cutlery and a stack of paper napkins to wrap them in. sitting with the tub and the napkins Yana quickly set about wrapping the utensils while Dean and Sam argued quietly between bites of burgers.

“I don’t know why you’re so opposed to this Dean. It’s a quick and easy burn job with a side of wearing our clothes inside out and shoes on the wrong feet. Yana won’t be coming along and it’s not like she doesn’t do this all the time already. Garth told you she has been his phone support for months when he is in the area and plenty others use her for research.” Sam leaned forward into his brother’s personal bubble of space and waited for the older hunter to explain. 

“Sammy, it’s not that I’m saying no, I’m just saying it’s such an easy job it only needs one of us. Yana just lost her father, she shouldn’t be alone just now you said it yourself this morning. You stay an’ watch her and make sure she isn’t going to do anything stupid, I’ll go gank the Licker and be back by breakfast.” Dean grinned at his brother and licked his lips clean of the final remnants of his burger “You never know, she might just take a liking to you baby brother.”


End file.
